Top FIVE American Middle & Long Distance Runners of All-TIme

if you go billy mills, why not bob schul. wasnt schul more consistent and at that level for a longer time? i am not sure?

1. Frank Shorter

2. Joan Benoit

3. Meb Keflezighi

4. Bernard Lagat

5. Lynn Jennings

Billy Mills one surprise Olympic Gold medal had little to back it up to make the list of an all-time list in my opinion.

Bob Schul was incredible and someone I thought about and considered replacing Billy Mills with him as it was a toss up between the two for my list.

Dickie who made your list?

alberto salazar

meb keflezighi

joan benoit

frank shorter

bill rogers

1. Frank Shorter

2. Bob Schul

3. Bernard Lagat

4. Joan Benoit

5. Meb Keflezi

honorable mentions: Pat Porter, Lynn Jennings, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazer, Jim Ryun, Steve Prefontaine, Craig Virgin, Johnny Gray

1 shorter

2 joan benoit

3 jim ryun

4 bill rodgers

5 meb

I don't see many "Middle" distance runners on any of these lists except the last one - Jim Ryun. I guess we're forgetting his WRs and medals? How about Liquori? How about Johnny Gray? How about Mary Slaney (pre drugs)?

Depends if you count the 800 as middle distance. If you do:

1. Shorter

2. Mat Whitfield

3. Ryun

4. Wottle

5. Tom Courtney

1. Dave Wottle

2. Billy Mills

3. Jordan Hasay

4. Chris Derrick

5. German Fernandez

Really? Everyone here is putting Meb on the list?

I don't know enough to make a full list, but that seems unlikely.

It's amazing how little respect Rick Wohlhuter gets. Look at the T&FN top lists for all events. Who's still there from the 70's? He is for both the 800m and, oh yeah, the still standing 1000m AR.

And he got an Olympic medal with two major studs ahead of him. Wottle got gold but he didn't have to run against those guys.

Next to Ryun, I'd rank RW the best American middle distance runner, and in the top five for middle and long.

Ryun goes ahead of Meb on ANY list, dipshit.

Meb:

NYC Champion

Olympic silver medalist

6-time 15k USA Champion (Gate River Run)

Credentials that stand up to anyone!

no way wrote:

Really? Everyone here is putting Meb on the list?

I don't know enough to make a full list, but that seems unlikely.

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Not trying to be funny at all; however, if you don't know enough to make a full list then you don't know enough to say if Mebrahtom shouldn't be on OUR list!

Olympic Silver Medalist

TWENTY National Titles: x-country, 8000m to Marathon

American Recordholder in 10000m

has been world ranked in both 10000m and marathon

2 time Olympic Trial 10000m Champion

NYC Marathon Winner

Steve Scott

Jim Ryun

Bob Schul

David Wottle

Bill Rodgers

Do people really value road races (other than the marathon) that highly?

# 1. Frank Shorter

1972 Olympic Marathon GOLD and 5th in the Olympic 10000m

1976 Olympic Marathon Silver

2. Bob Schul

the only American to every medal at Olympic 5000m and he won GOLD

3. Joan Benoit

ran away from heavy Olympic favorite Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristansen in LA and posted an incredible time in her solo run to Olympic Gold. Winner of numerous marathons after and still 2nd fastest American 20 plus years later.

4. Billy Mills

huge underdog and ran an unbelieveable personal best to win Olympic 10000m GOLD

5. Dave Wottle

winner of the only 800m Olympic GOLD medal with even spilts, dead last at 500m but walked everyone down for the GOLD. 2-time NCAA 1500m champion USA Olympian at 1500m.

You have to have won Olympic Gold to make my list. Most athletes would trade all their other accomplishments to have an individual Olympic Gold!

*runners who have a chance to make my list with more international championship podium placings to their previous Olympic/World medals:

Deena Kastor

Shalane Flanagan

Kara Goucher

Mebrahtom Keflezighi

Bernard Lagat

1 medal and no world records, not quite.

Runner42 wrote:

Meb:

NYC Champion

Olympic silver medalist

6-time 15k USA Champion (Gate River Run)

Credentials that stand up to anyone!

I know she has only run 9:12 for the steeple and the WR is 8:58 but Jenny Barringer makes my list as having the potential to become one of the five best all-time. Yes she will eventually run faster than 8:58 and hold the steeple WR and I do see her medaling at both of the upcoming World and Olympic steeples.